Leadership Rowan Ver2

Fiber to the Home
Michael Crowell
Technology Services Manager
City of Salisbury

Proprietary and Confidential -- This information is for use by Uptown Services, LLC and its clients only.

Fiber to the Home (FTTH)

• “Fiber to the Home” is defined as a
telecommunications architecture in which a
communications path is provided over optical fiber
cables extending from the telecommunications
operator’s switching equipment to (at least) the
boundary of the home living space or business office
space.

(FTTH Council - 11 August 2006 )


Fiber to the Home (FTTH)

• In other words –

FTTH is a fiber cable that runs from the central
office (the headend) to each person’s house or
business. There is no copper cable anywhere in
the cable plant. This compares to the incumbents
network which is Fiber to the Node (FTTN).


Fiber to the Node (FTTN)

• “Fiber to the Node”, also called fiber to the
neighborhood, is a telecommunication architecture
based on fiber-optic cables run to a cabinet serving a
neighborhood. Customers connect to this cabinet
using traditional coaxial cable or twisted pair wiring.
The area served by the cabinet is usually less than
5000 ft in radius and can contain several hundred
customers.

(FTTH Council - 11 August 2006 )


Fiber to the Node (FTTN)

• In other words –

The cable plant does include fiber, but only to a
point. From that point copper cable is used, either
as coax (for cable providers) or twisted pair (for
telcos). This use of copper cable greatly reduces
the bandwidth of the system. Also, the total
bandwidth is shared among a greater number of
subscribers.


Fiber Use in the Outside Plant


Problems with at&t’s U-verse
(Fiber to the Node)

• Fiber is terminated at a remote terminal (RT)
• The RT is positioned up to 5,000 feet from the subscribers
• Each RT will serve three to 500 subscribers
• FTTN utilizes existing twisted pair to connect to each home
• Signals over copper significantly degrade over long
distances, directly affecting the bandwidth capability


Problems with Time Warner
(Hybrid Fiber Coax)
• Similar to FTTN, except coax cable in place of copper twisted
pair
• Similar to FTTN, each node typically supports 3 to 500 homes
• Data users experience degraded performance as more users are
added to the network (shared bandwidth from node to homes)
• Low upstream data rate makes current HFC design primarily a
residential offering
• HFC was originally designed to provide video to
homes, therefore the reason for the limited upstream rate
• HFC is old technology by electronic standards with all the easy
upgrades already made


Problems with Current Providers
• DSL and cable networks cannot offer the speeds
required by a city wishing to compete in the digital
economy.
• Business, government, and citizens all need
affordable, fast access to information networks.
• As capacity
grows,
speed diminishes
with local
providers’
current
infrastructure.


What would FTTH allow the City to do?
• Local Determination
– As applications and technology change, the COMMUNITY
can decide when they need upgrades for faster speeds, rather
than hoping their needs coincide with Time Warner and
AT&T stockholder interests.

• Community Benefits
– Local events provided as video on demand
• High School sports
• Plays and concerts
• Government meetings
• Parades
• Graduations
– Advertising by local merchants
– Tourist channel

• Affordable Triple Play (Video, voice, and data)


FTTH and Economic Development
FTTH helps define successful communities just as good
water, power, climate and transportation have defined
them for millennia.
• Hometown businesses can now compete in a global
economy
• Professionals and others can work from home.
• Quality of life is enhanced by online
entertainment, education, culture, and
ecommerce.
• FTTH attracts the
creative class along
with the young
professionals.


Other potential benefits
• Automated meter reading
• Video Conferencing
• Security cameras
• Telecommuting
• Immediate emergency notification
• Internet gaming
• International TV programming
• Educational network
• Telemedicine and home health
monitoring
• Digital Signage


Fiber Speed Example


Speed Tests

• Speedmatters.org
– Organization that promotes broadband in the US
• Vudu
– Appliance to provide Video on Demand


Municipal FTTH since March

• Chattanooga, TN
– Connecting first customer early 2009
– Full build out in 5 years
• Lafayette, LA
– Connecting first customer early 2009
– Full build out 2011
– Sold $110.4 million in bonds to finance project


Salisbury’s plan
• Triple Play
– Video
– Voice
• Unlimited local and long distance
– Data
• Email
• Basic security such as spam filtering
• Gaming
• Basic Data Services
– Backup
– Web hosting
– Synchronization of data with mobile devices
– Managed Security Services


• Greenlight: Bundle & Save Home Packages


• LastMile Magazine
– Magazine on Broadband Design and Deployment
– Ryan McCaigue, President of Ivy League Consulting
• My daughter is connecting with others and learning in new
ways that are just amazing. She is learning Japanese, listing
to native speakers online, video-conferencing with new
friends in Japan and sharing stories and artwork. She falls
into the 70 percent of teens who would rather give up TV
than her computer with Internet access. This global
broadband connectivity always has been and always will be a
part of her life.

Unfortunately the vast majority of U.S. citizens are not
participants in this engine for change and growth.


• LastMile Magazine
– Magazine on Broadband Design and Deployment
– Ryan McCaigue, President of Ivy League Consulting
• Connectivity is no longer a luxury. It is no longer an
option. It is a requirement. We must push broadband
connectivity to the corners of our country. We must
push down the cost of access. Without low cost high-
speed access, we will lose our competitive and
economic edge in the global marketplace. The demand
for connectivity to compete in an increasingly
connected world alone is enough to justify a sustained
state and national commitment to building broadband
networks.

• Geoff Daily
– Washington, DC based technology journalist and broadband activist


Where are we?

• City began investigating FTTH in 2005

• Report made to City Council at Retreat on
February 9, 2006

• City Council adopted at its Annual Retreat on
February 10, 2006 the Goal of “Prepare and
implement a Fiber To The Home business plan”
and reaffirmed it at the 2007 Retreat

• City Council appointed a FTTH subcommittee on
March 7, 2006


Major Steps
• Council approved a contract with Uptown
Services, LLC to do a feasibility study on April
18, 2006
• Initial report made to Council Subcommittee on June
12, 2006
• Presentation to council was made on Sept 7, 2007
• Report made to council at council retreat on Feb
15th, 2008
• Council adopts “Implement FTTH plan” as one of
the tactical goals for 2008
• Public Hearing was set at council meeting March
4th, 2008


Major Steps

• Held initial meeting with LGC September 11th, 2008
• Sent out RFP for “Fiber Design Build” July 8th, 2008
• Received bids August 11th, 2008
• Seeking approval from the Local Government
Commission in early November
• Hope to have the bonds available to sell November 20th.


•Questions?

• Michael Crowell
– 704-638-5314
– mcrow@salisburync.gov


Leadership Rowan Ver2

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